From the FWD Email Dept.
Got the email around a year ago. It was one of those things that was just forwarded and you don't really know who wrote it in the first place. I was cleaning out my old hard drive and found it again. Thought it would be more relevant to post it now. Actually I was planning to post it in November, which is when I turn 30. But I'm posting it now, maybe as a reminder to myself that I need to get these things done soon, most especially get #7 done. I have a bad habit of bringing my ghosts along, even when they're all tired of haunting me.
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Turning 30 is not a right of anguish anymore; realizing what one has not done the past three decades. Turning 30 represents a chance to right wrongs, settle scores, and start fresh. It is time to build on past successes while creating new ones. The following may not be applicable to everyone in making the most of it, but among those who asked who were in the cusp of 30, these are the things they wished they had done sooner.
1. TRAVEL - we don't mean Hong Kong, although it is a pretty fascinating city. Most young people should have the opportunity to see that the world is bigger than Megamall. If you are lucky enough to be sponsored in making a big trip to the US or Europe, treat it as a learning experience, not just a great opportunity to buy Bass loafers on discount. It is a cliché but true: travel makes history come alive and opens up the mind to countless new experiences. Make sure you can learn from it while you can.
2. BUY LIFE INSURANCE - it is a fact of life that in your 20s, life insurance is seen as cumbersome, morbid and not worth paying. Insurance agents on the other hand are weasels, vultures and vermin that don't have enough rocks to crawl under. The reality is accidents happen. Buses ram into cars. Planes crash. Boats sink. Anything can happen and it's too late to sort out a potential financial mess when your family and relatives are in mourning. This is not a pitch for insurance companies, but if you'd stop blowing off that agent, you'd find out what you can get out of life insurance, namely peace of mind.
3. GET FIT - at 20 losing pounds is like sneezing. There's hardly any effort involved. At 30, just budging the ripples of fat on your thighs would involve a crane and forklift. Generally, the younger you are, the easier it is to reach and maintain optimum fitness. Getting into the habit early on primes and conditions your body so that by 30 at a time when couch potatoes start discovering mysterious aches and pains, you're in the pink of health. Start living healthier sooner and the benefit will remain with you longer.
4. SAVE OR INVEST MONEY - saving is rarely a priority in your 20s. Shopping is. There are many young bright things out there with Prada bags, Maxmara suits and debts that are shoved into a drawer in the hope they would evaporate. Around 30 or thereabouts, the shopping plateau hits. There are life changes: a shift in careers, a marriage, a baby. Follow your mother's advice and pay yourself first every payday by deducting a percentage that gets debited straight into an
account you can't touch. Not doing without it will train you to live on what's left. At 30, you'll be glad you made that early sacrifice. While your peers will be struggling to put something away, you can be secure in the thought that you have a head start.
5. LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE OR GET ANOTHER DEGREE - the best time to learn another language or get another degree would be when you're encumbered by job and family responsibilities, with the extra time and energy to work and study at the same time. Acquiring relevant skills and knowledge add up to your value as an employee or manager and brightens prospects for the future.
6. LIVE ON YOUR OWN - some people think independence means not borrowing the car on Saturday night. That's admirable, but moving out is a much more of a learning experience. Paying household bills you've racked up, learning how to clean up after your own rubbish without a squadron of maids, even cooking your own meals are lesson well learned far from home. So many young people claim they are the masters of their own destiny but fuss when the maid doesn't turn the hot water on. Perhaps, the best lesson one can learn in this life is that mommy and daddy are not always there to pick up after you. Living on your own will teach you that in ways no textbook can and will equip you better for the time when you start a family.
7. EXORCISE YOUR GHOST - during your 20s, it's okay to blame your anger on deprived childhood, cruel friends and traitorous boyfriends. During your 30s, the same excuses sound pretty lame. At some point or another, you will have to be responsible for your own actions. So your parents broke up? So one of your boyfriends jilted you for your friend? So bloody what? Using these creaky skeletons as scapegoats for a miserable existence hardly counts as looking forward. I still have an office colleague who can't forget no one spoke to her when she was in a freshman party in Australia. Did it scar her for life? Probably, since she can't seem to stop talking about it. Get rid of those ghosts that have stubbornly hung over you. They have no place in your tomorrows except as references to periods in your life. Turning 30 means moving on, not pestering with old grievances. Remember Mme.Camlet? According to the Observer, despite the death of her only daughter in 1934, of her husband in 1942 and of her only grandchild in 1963, she has something we should all aspire to have, says her doctor. "She has a remarkable capacity to overcome grief and carry on." And carrying on is only the start. Better things are yet to come -- just wait until you're 40.